


oh the way she sounds (when she's calling my name)

by afire



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Cheerleader/Jock AU, F/F, [slaps roof of fic] this bad boy can fit so many tropes in it, haha fluff machine go brrr, i wrote this for me but you can read it if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24304987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afire/pseuds/afire
Summary: Josie just laughs, dancing back a step as Penelope reaches out. "So?" She spins, letting the material flare out around her. "You left it in my room, so it's mine now.""Oh?" Penelope crosses her arms, leans against the metal of her locker. "Did I leave my heart there too?"(or: they're in love)
Relationships: Penelope Park & Hope Mikaelson, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman, background Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 32
Kudos: 451





	oh the way she sounds (when she's calling my name)

**Author's Note:**

> [This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDqN8iKEH9w) is your soundtrack.

Penelope has misplaced her jacket.

It's not a huge annoyance, but she's definitely going to get in trouble if she doesn't find it by the weekend. Coach doesn't like it when they show up to games without the full uniform, and will not hesitate to bench her, captain or not.

She's still thinking about it when she stumbles out of the house, backpack slung clumsily over one shoulder as Hope leans on the horn of her car.

"Do you ever shut up?" Penelope asks, swinging the passenger side door open and falling into the seat, dropping her bag by her feet. "I'm not even late."

Hope just shrugs. "Felt like being annoying." She reaches to turn the music down. "Where's your jacket? Did you lose it again?"

"Again? When have I ever lost my jacket?"

"I don't know, you just never seem to have it."

"Yeah, well. I have to find it before the game on Sunday."

"You better. We'll never win if you get benched."

Contrary to popular belief, Penelope isn't the biggest troublemaker on the team. More often than not, it's Hope who drags them both into questionable situations, and Penelope who has to talk them out of getting detention.

Sometimes, she wonders why she continues to let Hope be her best friend.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Hope gestures toward the back-seat. "Swung by Dad's café this morning and got a bagel for you."

Right, this is why.

"Cream cheese?" Penelope asks, already twisting around and leaning out of her seatbelt to make a grab for the paper bag.

Hope rolls her eyes. "Duh. What else?"

"You're the best."

"And don't you forget it."

♥

Penelope's chewing on her last bite of bagel when someone knocks on the open door of her locker. She leans out behind it, grinning when Josie's face comes into view.

"Hi," she says. Then, after closing her locker and getting a good look at her girlfriend, "Hey, that's my jacket."

Josie just laughs, dancing back a step as Penelope reaches out. "So?" She spins, letting the material flare out around her. "You left it in my room, so it's mine now."

"Oh?" Penelope crosses her arms, leans against the metal of her locker. "Did I leave my heart there too?"

"Maybe you did. Do you want it back?"

Penelope darts forward, hooks a finger through one of the loops on Josie's jeans and pulls her close. "No," she says, whisper-soft. "You can keep it."

Josie leans in, but this time it's Penelope who dances away, laughing quietly.

"I'll see you in English," she calls, walking backwards and wriggling her fingers in goodbye. "Keep my heart safe for me."

"You're annoying!" Josie's trying her best to sound angry, but she's never been that good of a liar. Besides, she's smiling, pulling Penelope's jacket tighter around her.

Penelope blows her a kiss.

♥

"Did you find your jacket?"

It's a nice day, just warm enough for the breeze to be cool on her skin, and Penelope watches as Hope uses the bench as a step to climb up onto the table, seating herself at the edge.

"No, but it found me."

Hope frowns, confused, but she's already taken a bite of her sandwich, and so has to wait to ask her question.

It doesn't matter, in the end, because Josie joins them, and Penelope just gestures toward her.

"Oh," Hope says, grinning. "You were robbed."

"Who?" Josie slides onto the bench next to Penelope, immediately moving much closer than she needs to be. "Hey, Hope."

"Hello, Josie. I see you have a new jacket."

Josie huffs, though it's clear that she isn't actually annoyed. "It was willingly given."

"I forgot it in her room," Penelope stage-whispers, blocking her mouth with one hand as she leans toward Hope.

Hope nods conspiratorially, miming the action of zipping up her lips.

Then, turning toward Josie, she asks, "Where's Lizzie?"

"Who knows?" Josie shrugs. "Haven't seen her since this morning."

Penelope picks up a baby carrot, points it in Hope's direction in order to get her attention. "She was there in Chemistry, had to stop her from blowing up our experiment."

"You did not." Lizzie materializes, seemingly out of nowhere. "It wouldn't have blown up."

"The test tube was melting in your hands."

"I will neither confirm nor deny."

Penelope decides not to push this one further, seeing as Hope is practically vibrating in her seat, ready to monopolise all of Lizzie's attention.

She goes back to her carrots, which have begun to disappear much faster than she could possibly be eating them.

"Really? In broad daylight?"

Josie feigns innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about," she says, grinning around the baby carrot currently in her mouth.

Penelope just sighs, leaning her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm. She's angled toward Josie, which means her current posture gives her a perfect view as her girlfriend smiles down at her.

"I don't think we're quite at the 'what's mine is yours' stage yet."

"Aren't we?" Josie asks, completely nonchalantly.

"Did you propose without me knowing?"

"Oh, absolutely not." Josie leans in, close enough that Penelope almost goes cross-eyed trying to keep looking at her. "When I propose, you're definitely going to know."

And, it's not often that Penelope has nothing to say, but as it is, her mind is completely blank right now.

Josie kisses her quickly, then turns and stands. "I have to go talk to Hogan about my lab report, see you later!"

"Bye," Penelope says, still a little dazed, watching as Josie walks away.

Her hair is in space buns today, instead of tumbling over her shoulders, which means that it's not blocking the back of Penelope's jacket. Both the 'PARK' in big, bold letters and the large number four are fully visible.

"Hey, captain, stop being a mess and tell Lizzie that she's wrong."

"Excuse me? I have never been wrong in my life."

Penelope turns back to the table to find Hope and Lizzie lost in another pointless squabble, decides it's in her best interests not to intervene, and returns to her carrots.

They'll get over it soon enough, they always do.

♥

It's a Friday, which means that Josie has cheer practice, but Penelope doesn't have training.

Hope usually gives her a ride home, but on Fridays she stays in the library, working through whatever essay she's just been assigned for the weekend, waiting for Josie to be done.

When the sun starts hitting her eyes through the back window, Penelope knows that it's time to pack up and leave.

The field is empty, but there are bags scattered about, so she just climbs the bleachers, takes a seat a couple levels up.

Penelope's lost in her thoughts, staring down at her shuffling feet, when someone calls her name.

It's a girl she doesn't recognise, but Penelope sees the shirt she's wearing and connects the dots enough to place her as one of the other cheerleaders.

"Hi," she says, just to be polite, because she doesn't think Josie would appreciate her being rude to one of her teammates. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, not really. Just wondering what you were doing this weekend?"

The girl is standing at an odd angle, one hand on her hip, body tilted forwards. Penelope, who has always been a fan of personal space, leans back just a tiny bit.

"Um, I'll be here on Sunday, for the game."

"Right, of course." The girl laughs, Penelope still can't remember her name. "I'll be cheering you on."

"Thanks?" Penelope doesn't sound very convincing, even to herself. She pushes through her confusion to try again. "I mean, thank you. Championship game, you know? We've never made it this far."

Hope has spent every minute of her free time hunting for four-leaf clovers, driving them both out to the field behind the cinema. She hasn't managed to find any so far, but Penelope still thinks it's funny to sit and watch her crawl through the meadow.

The girl takes a step closer, Penelope unconsciously shifts back.

"So," she says. "I was thinking…"

She trails off, but Penelope has already stopped listening, because someone else has called her name, and this is a voice she recognises, would recognise anywhere.

Josie pops up behind the girl, pushing her aside and reaching out for Penelope. "Come on," she says, voice tight with irritation. "Let's go home."

She's still wearing Penelope's jacket, but her hair is down now, wet from the shower.

Penelope happily takes her hand, letting herself get tugged upwards and forwards. She loses her footing for a moment, stumbling into Josie, who steadies her.

"Thanks," she mutters.

Josie drops a kiss to the top of her head.

"Bye, Dana," she says, as they both turn to leave.

Oh, so that's her name.

♥

Josie seems preoccupied, enough that she's silent for the entire ride back to her house. Penelope holds out until they're parked in the driveway before asking, "Is everything okay?"

"Fine," Josie says, through her teeth. Then, after a slight pause where she seems to struggle with something, "She was flirting with you."

It takes a moment, but Penelope manages to, once again, connect the dots.

"Oh." She looks down at her hands, then back up at Josie. "Sorry, I didn't realise."

Josie deflates, shoulders loosening as her hands fall from the steering wheel, landing in her lap. "No, don't apologise. You've done nothing wrong." She glances over, smiling crookedly. "Besides, we all know that you can't tell when someone's interested."

"Hey! You said you'd stop teasing me about that. Six months isn't that long."

"Long enough for me to go from having a crush to being properly in love."

Penelope grins, unable to help herself. "Love you too," she says. "Promise not to leave you for, uh, I forgot her name again."

Josie laughs. "And I promise not to leave you for Hope."

"As if. Lizzie would claw your eyes out."

"I don't doubt it."

♥

Lizzie comes home several hours later, looking both annoyed and smitten at the same time, which means that she's just spent the entire afternoon with Hope.

Penelope pops her head up over the side of the couch, careful not to move too much because Josie is taking a nap on her.

"Hey," she says, voice low. "Where have you been?"

"Clover hunting," Lizzie grumbles, dropping her keys into the bowl on the counter. "Hope's determined to find one before Sunday."

"And did she?"

"No."

Penelope laughs, and the movement must be enough to jostle Josie awake, because the other girl blinks, pushing herself up high enough to also peek over the back of the couch.

"Oh, hey Liz. Did you have fun with Hope?"

"You could say that." Lizzie starts for the stairs, her next words thrown over her shoulder. "I'm going to shower, and then we can figure out what we're doing for dinner. Pen, are you staying the night?"

"Yeah." Josie answers for her, voice stretching around the yawn that's currently taking over her face.

Penelope just shrugs, accepting her fate. Lizzie rolls her eyes at them, but she's smiling when she disappears from view.

The house is dark and quiet, and for a moment, it really seems like Josie's gone back to sleep, but then she hauls herself up.

"Hi," she says, quietly happy in the way that people only are when they're not fully aware of what's going on around them.

"Hello." Penelope shifts so that Josie's sitting on her hips, instead of being squashed into the side of the couch. "How was your nap?"

It's clear that Josie's definitely still half-asleep, because she yawns again, giving her shoulders a little shake. "Good." She sways a little, steadying herself by planting her hands on either side of Penelope's ribs, fingers sinking into the cushion of the couch. "Mmm, you're really warm."

"Would be warmer if I had my jacket." Penelope presses her knuckles into Josie's side, right where she knows the other girl is ticklish.

It works, Josie comes crashing down almost immediately, her giggles muffled by the soft fabric of Penelope's hoodie.

She hoists herself back up, narrowing her eyes playfully at Penelope's faux innocent expression.

"Do you know why I like wearing your jacket?"

The question takes Penelope by surprise.

"Uh, because it's warm?"

Josie laughs, shaking her head. "No, you silly girl. I like wearing it because it's yours." She lets herself flop back down, head resting on Penelope's shoulder. "And it lets people know that I'm yours, too."

Penelope closes her eyes, remembers the warm, happy feeling that had flooded her chest at the sight of Josie in her jacket, of Josie wearing her name and number.

"Oh."

"You're always so surprised that I love you." Josie snuggles closer, tugging absentmindedly at one of the drawstrings on Penelope's hoodie. "Thought you'd be used to it by now."

Penelope takes a breath, exhales slowly as she tries her best not to get overwhelmed. She knows that Josie loves her, has known for quite a while now, but it still somehow always manages to catch her off-guard.

She tries so hard not to take Josie for granted that, sometimes, she forgets that she's allowed to expect love from the girl she's given her heart to.

"I don't think I could ever get used to you, Jojo."

"Is that a compliment? I genuinely can't tell."

Penelope huffs out a laugh, wraps her arms around Josie and hugs her tight.

"Josie, I don't know how to be someone who doesn't love you. Of course it's a compliment."

"Okay, don't need to get all romantic, you already got the girl. I'm here."

And, Penelope knows that Josie's just teasing, but that warm, happy feeling creeps up on her again, blooming between her ribs.

She's about to say something in reply, but the lights suddenly flicker on and Lizzie looms above them, smirking.

"Okay, lovebirds! What's for dinner?"

♥

For all that she had complained about it, Penelope forgets to get her jacket back from Josie before they're due to report for the game.

"Park! Where's your letterman?"

Penelope look down at herself, cursing softly when she realises that she's only got her jersey on.

"Uh, it's-"

"Probably in the locker room." Hope steps forward, coming to her rescue. "Did you forget to grab it?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll just run and get it now, be right back."

Penelope sprints off before their coach can lecture her about keeping track of her stuff.

She's just lucky that the championship game is at their school, instead of some campus she isn't familiar with. At least she knows where Josie is.

It's a home game, so their cheer squad has to do some sort of routine at the beginning, as a show of school spirit or something. Whatever the case, Penelope knows that Josie is probably still in the locker room with the rest of her team.

So, really, it's not like Hope had been lying.

Penelope almost skids across the linoleum as she runs, barrelling through to the locker room without thinking twice.

She recognises her mistake almost immediately as everyone turns to stare.

"Uh." She spins around, resolutely keeping her gaze on the door. "Can someone find Josie, please?"

"Right here, babe." Josie sounds like she's barely holding back a laugh, reaching out to gently turn Penelope back around. "You okay? Why aren't you on the field?"

"Um, I'm fine. I just, uh, need my jacket?"

Josie's eyes widen. "Right! Sorry, I totally forgot." She shrugs out of the jacket, holding it out for Penelope to slide her arms into. "There you go."

"Thanks." Penelope grins, sliding her hands into the pockets. "See you soon?"

Josie nods, seems to consider something for a moment, then reaches to grab Penelope's collar and pull her into a kiss. A real one, so that Penelope momentarily forgets where she is and what she's doing.

"Good luck," Josie says, even as her teammates erupt into catcalls behind her. "I love you."

Penelope blinks, tries to remember how to form sentences. "I love you, too." She lets Josie push her back out the door, takes a couple seconds in the hallway to collect herself.

Then she remembers that she's supposed to be on the field right now and starts sprinting back through the school.

Hope would kill her if she got herself benched twenty minutes before the game.

♥

They're winning.

Penelope hasn't looked at the scoreboard, but she knows that they're winning, mostly because the other team has gotten very aggressive in the past two minutes.

She rolls her crosse between her palms, watching as Hope sprints up the field and scores them another goal.

Yeah, they're definitely winning.

Penelope shuffles back into position, grinning at the way Hope is bouncing from foot to foot, obviously hopped up on adrenaline and the rush of a goal.

With two minutes left on the clock, the ball flies past Penelope and she guns after it entirely on instinct, keeping an eye out for Hope, who's running parallel to her on the other side of the field.

The moment she scoops it up, something slams into her shins and she lurches forward.

She must do a full flip, because the next thing Penelope knows, she's on her back and staring at the sky, crosse still gripped tightly between her hands.

Her head is spinning, and she thinks someone shouts her name, but she can't hear anything over the ringing in her ears. The seconds drag past, then Hope's face swims into her blurry vision, and Penelope stops panicking.

She'll be fine. Hope's here, so she'll be fine.

Someone hauls her to her feet, and she dimly registers walking over to the bench, but doesn't fully return to her senses until a water bottle is pushed into her hands.

Penelope blinks, looking around to find her coach in front of her.

"You okay, Park?"

"Yeah," she says, shaking her head a little, hoping to clear her cloudy mind. "Yeah, I think so."

"That was a nasty tumble you took, best sit out for the rest of the match."

Penelope would protest, but the game is pretty much over, and she's done her best for her team, so she just nods.

Out on the field, Hope is being a menace. Penelope watches as she body checks someone, not even going after the ball that gets dropped.

"Park."

"Yeah?" Penelope looks up, immediately regrets it when her head starts to spin again.

"If I let that girl over here, you better not be nuisances."

"What?"

Coach ignores her confusion, instead just motioning for someone to come over.

Before she can figure out what's going on, Penelope's looking up into Josie's worried face.

"Oh, hello!"

Josie falls onto the bench next to her, hands fluttering back and forth over Penelope's body, as if she can't make her mind up on what to check first.

"Are you okay? You did a full flip! I was so worried, does it hurt?"

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy." Penelope grabs hold of Josie's jittery hands. "Really, I'm fine. Just need to sit for a while, I promise."

Josie still looks extremely concerned, right up until she switches to anger so fast that Penelope almost gets whiplash.

"I can't believe she tripped you, it was definitely on purpose."

"She was just mad that they were losing."

"That's no excuse!"

Penelope leans in close. "Hey, look at me." She waits until Josie meets her eyes before continuing. "I'm fine, and we're still winning. It doesn't matter anymore."

Josie looks like she's still seriously considering keying that girl's car, so Penelope slides closer and turns around.

"Can you redo my braids? I think they're too tight."

"Oh, of course."

Penelope closes her eyes as Josie works, humming a mindless tune under her breath.

"There," Josie says, after a while. "All done."

The game must end at that exact moment, because when Penelope looks up, her entire team is bearing down on her, with Hope leading the pack.

She has two seconds to brace herself before they descend, and then suddenly she's getting lifted into the air and paraded into the middle of the field.

They carry her around long enough that she starts to get dizzy again, and just as she's about to ask them to put her down, she gets deposited onto the grass.

Her team forms a circle around her, and after some jostling, Josie gets herded into the middle, looking startled but not uncomfortable.

Penelope looks at her, laughing when she rolls her eyes.

It's obvious what they're expected to do.

Josie raises an eyebrow at her, asking if she's okay with it. Penelope just shrugs, because she really doesn't care anymore.

And when she gets pulled in for a kiss, the team exploding with cheers around her, Penelope's head spins for a very different reason.

♥

As is tradition, the team takes over their local diner in celebration. Half the school joins them, because this is the first championship they've won in years. Also because teenagers will take any opportunity to go out and raise a ruckus.

Five separate people offer to buy her a milkshake, and Penelope has to politely decline. She'd never actually say yes to anyone, but it's still really funny to watch as Josie glowers at them.

She's repossessed Penelope's jacket, looking delighted every time someone tells them they're a cute couple.

At one point, Hope goes zooming past them, the four-leaf clover that she had apparently managed to find held high in the air.

"Do you think she ever runs out of energy?"

"No." Penelope shakes her head, leaning on Josie's arm as they occupy one side of a booth. "She just goes on forever."

"Seems like it."

It's getting late, and the crowd has thinned, but Penelope knows that she's not leaving until Hope does. It's an unspoken code between them, not to leave the other behind.

The jukebox in the corner rattles, coming to life as someone slips a couple of quarters in. Now that they're not awash in the white noise of a dozen overlapping conversations, Penelope can actually hear the music that's being played.

Straining through the crackle of vinyl is a melody she recognizes, a song she's heard over and over again, in the gentle tones of her father's voice as he sings himself through washing the dishes.

Penelope pushes herself to her feet, pulls Josie along with her.

Josie follows willingly, without an ounce of hesitation. Though she does ask, "Where are we going?"

"Humour me," Penelope says, as she drifts to a stop a few paces away from the jukebox, drawing Josie's arms around her waist and placing her own around the other girl's neck.

No one is looking at them, too preoccupied with listening to whatever it is that Hope's decided to preach this evening, and Penelope spins them in lazy circles, singing along under her breath.

Josie laughs, soft and warm, a picture of joy as she lets Penelope lead them across the diner floor.

"You always do this."

Penelope guides Josie into a twirl, catching her when she comes back around. "Do what?"

"Prove me wrong."

The song is ending, the next track clicking on. Penelope stays quiet, letting her silence act as the question.

Josie just smiles at her, slow and happy.

"Every time I think I couldn't possibly love you any more than I already do, you prove me wrong."

It's hot in the diner, under the fluorescent lights, which is Penelope's excuse for why her cheeks suddenly heat up.

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

Penelope stumbles closer, so that they're just hugging in front of the jukebox.

"Embarrassing me," she mumbles, into the curve of Josie's collarbone.

She feels Josie's laughter more than she hears it, bubbling up between them.

"Can't help it," Josie whispers. "You're too cute."

Hope interrupts the moment by popping up suddenly, eyes bright as she waves the four-leaf clover at them.

"Pen! I'm going home! Do you need a ride?"

Penelope spins in Josie's arms, leans back into her girlfriend as she focuses on Hope.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just grab my stuff."

Hope bobs her head in a nod, flouncing away back across the floor and out the door, probably off to find her car.

"Don't want you to go home," Josie mutters, breath washing over the back of Penelope's neck.

Penelope barely represses a shiver, then reluctantly takes a step forward, out of Josie's arms.

"Sorry, baby. Dad keeps talking about how he hasn't seen me in forever."

"I can stay over at yours."

Over the years, Josie has pretty much perfected the use of her patented puppy-dog eyes. Fortunately for Penelope, the constant exposure means that she's pretty much immune to it.

Most of the time.

She darts forward, goes up on her tiptoes to give Josie a kiss before backing away again.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Jojo. Text me when you get home?"

Josie looks like she's having a hard time powering through her disappointment right now, but Penelope knows that it's just a last-ditch attempt to get her to change her mind.

"Okay," Josie says, after a couple of seconds pass and Penelope shows no signs of giving in. "Love you."

"I know." Penelope leans back against the cool glass of the diner door, pushing slightly so that it starts to open. "Love you, too."

It takes her the entire ride home with Hope to realise that Josie's still got her jacket.

♥

Penelope walks into school on Monday morning and almost takes herself out on a table that hadn't been there the previous week.

The boy behind it pulls it back so hard that it hits him in the chest.

"Oh, god! I'm so sorry!"

"You're fine, don't worry about it." Penelope glances up, reads the sign that's tacked to the wall. "Is this for prom?"

"Ah, yeah. A bit late, I know, but we sort of spent the entire budget and still need more things so now we're doing a fundraiser." He perks up, as if suddenly remembering that he's supposed to be a salesman right now. "So, how about it? Would you like to buy a rose?"

Penelope chews on the inside of her cheek, considering her options.

"You guys don't put the orders in until after, right? I mean, you wait until everyone's paid?"

"Yeah, that way we don't end up buying more than we need."

"Well, if you don't mind putting in a separate request, I'd love to get some flowers."

The boy leans forward on his elbows, lips pulling into a grin.

"What did you have in mind?"

♥

For the rest of the week, all anyone can talk about is the fundraiser. Penelope's almost certain that they're going to make way more money than initially anticipated.

Wednesday morning sees half the student council wandering through the hallways, arms full of flowers as they track people down. Someone almost brains Penelope with a full bouquet, and she has to do the limbo under their arm to save herself.

Classes keep getting interrupted by deliveries, and some of Penelope's teachers just give up, tasking them all with a worksheet that no one focuses on.

Lunchtime incites an even greater flurry of activity as the hallways fill with people. Penelope has to dodge three different couples on her way outside, almost tripping over someone as they rush past her.

She's the first one at their usual table, but Lizzie joins her not long after.

"You're the talk of the school again."

Penelope, about to take a bite of her apple, pulls the fruit away from her mouth. "Again? When have I ever been the talk of the school?"

Lizzie just gives her a look. Then, apparently deeming her question unworthy of being answered, says, "Josie got her flowers during History."

"Oh! Did she like them?"

"Yeah, and so did every other girl in our class." Lizzie ignores Penelope's confused frown. "How'd you do that, by the way? I thought they were only selling roses."

"Cut a deal with the guy who was in charge, he seemed pretty excited about it to be honest."

"Of course he was, and now everyone's jealous."

"Huh?"

Lizzie makes a vague sort of gesture with her hands, one that could mean anything. "I can't believe I'm telling you this," she says, "but pretty much every girl in this school has a crush on you."

Penelope almost chokes on the bite of apple she's just taken.

"What?"

"God, Josie was right. You really can't tell."

"Can't tell?"

"When people want to kiss you."

Penelope must make a face, because Lizzie laughs.

"You are so unbelievably in love with my sister, I have no idea why anyone else even bothers."

Before Penelope can ask more questions, Hope wanders over, hopping up to sit on the table.

"Incoming," she says, with a grin.

Sure enough, not two seconds later, a whole flock of girls descend upon their table. Penelope blinks, holding her apple to her chest as she tries to make sense of what's happening.

A glance to her left reveals both Lizzie and Hope laughing their heads off, which means that she's on her own for this.

"Um, hi." Penelope gives everyone a wave, unsure of how to proceed.

She gets a chorus of greetings in response, briefly starts to panic, then relaxes when Josie's familiar face appears.

Her girlfriend melts through the crowd, holding a bouquet of daisies close to her chest.

"Hey, babe. Everyone wants to know how you did it."

"Did what?"

Josie holds her flowers out, gives them a gentle shake in front of Penelope's face.

"Oh, I just asked if they did special requests, the guy running the stall said it was okay."

"Why daisies?" The question comes from one of the girls, though it is not immediately apparent which one.

Penelope answers it anyway, because it looks like Josie wants her to.

"Well, Josie doesn't really like roses, and daisies are her favourite."

The crowd erupts into a collective 'aww', and Penelope feels her face start to warm as her gaze cuts back to Hope, who's giving her two thumbs-up, and Lizzie, who just raises an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, she answered your questions, we'd like to eat our lunch now."

Penelope turns back around to find Josie shooing everyone away, letting out a breath of relief as the girls actually start to disperse.

"I'm glad you like your flowers," she says, after Josie slides onto the bench next to her.

"I love them." Josie presses a kiss to the side of her head. "Thank you very much."

♥

As is often the case toward the end of the year, the senior class gradually stops caring. Penelope makes sure that she gets all her work done, but if she's being honest with herself, she's more or less stopped paying attention to lessons.

Not that Josie lets her get away with it in English, but she gets a real kick out of playing tic-tac-toe with Lizzie on the edge of her notebook instead of listening to their Chemistry teacher.

As they inch closer and closer to graduation, the mindless hallway chatter gradually evolves into a shared excitement for prom.

Hope asks Lizzie in front of the entire courtyard, and Penelope gets the whole thing on video, as per her best friend's request.

"You know, for two people who make a living out of teasing us, they're as cheesy as we are." Josie's leaning back against Penelope's side, watching as Lizzie scoops Hope into a kiss and the surrounding students all start cheering. "Maybe more."

"We only let them get away with it because we're nice," Penelope says, ending her recording and pocketing her phone.

Josie nods. "That's right." She pops another chip into her mouth. "When are you asking me, by the way?"

"Can't tell you, it's a surprise."

"Okay, but just so you know, I already bought my dress."

"Oh, don't worry, Lizzie told me. Right after she sent me a list of colours I'm supposed to stick to."

"That's just her way of showing love."

"And don't I know it."

♥

Penelope drums her fingers on the sidewalk, checking her phone to see if Lizzie's texted yet.

The screen lights up, and she can't help but smile at what she sees, the picture she'd taken just the other day, of Josie blowing the camera a kiss.

It's a recent switch, from what had previously been the photo of the two of them at the top of the Ferris wheel, the one that Penelope had taken even though Josie had been so afraid that she'd drop her phone.

Penelope had printed that one out, tacked it to the inside of her locker.

Hope makes fun of her for it, as if her own locker isn't covered with pictures of Lizzie.

Speaking of Lizzie, Penelope's still waiting for her text, sitting cross-legged on the ground behind one of the bushes outside Josie's house.

It's a warm summer night, and there's a cool breeze blowing through, which is the only reason why Penelope isn't mad at the fact that she's been out here for nearly an hour.

Just as she's about to shove her phone back into her pocket, it dings with a text.

"Finally," she mutters, getting to her feet and picking up her sign.

Her trek across the lawn is pin-drop silent, and then she almost jumps out of her skin when someone waves at her from the kitchen window.

It's Lizzie, lit in the orange glow of the stove light, giving her two thumbs-up and a big grin, in a way that's very reminiscent of Hope.

Penelope just barely manages to refrain from giving her the finger, instead just motioning for Lizzie to go away.

Josie's bedroom faces the backyard, but Penelope's climbed this fence enough times that she does it without even thinking, dropping to the grass with a quiet huff.

From there, it's just the simple task of finding a handful of pebbles and taking aim at Josie's window.

Penelope fiddles with her sign as she waits, nervously shuffling her feet.

"Really?" Josie's thrown her window open, leaning on the sill as she grins down at Penelope. "I've got to give it to you, I'm surprised."

"Good! That was the point!"

Penelope holds up her sign, which is just a piece of cardboard with glowsticks taped to it, spelling the words 'PROM, PLEASE?', because she's nothing if not polite.

Josie makes a show out of debating her options before she throws her hands up, says, "Yes, of course. Who else would I go with?"

"Hope."

"Lizzie would claw my eyes out."

"She would." Penelope drops her sign, leaning it against the side of the house and making a mental note to come retrieve it in the morning. "Now what?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"If you let me in, I'll play a song for you on your guitar."

Josie pushes her window open further. "Just so you know," she says, watching as Penelope starts to climb the tree outside her room. "I'm only letting you do this because you're being romantic. Next time, you're using the front door."

"Okay."

"I mean it!"

"I know."

♥

The year folds quietly into a close, faster than Penelope can track. One moment she's in class, not paying attention, and the next she's in her room, getting ready for a first-day-of-summer party that Hope had insisted on throwing.

She's a little grumpy, mostly because Josie's spent the day shopping with her mother, and Penelope hasn't had a chance to see her.

Which is fine, it's not like Penelope doesn't spend time with her own family. She just misses Josie, that's all. No one can really blame her for that.

Besides, she knows that Josie misses her too.

"Okay, focus." Penelope pulls an assortment of clothes from her closet, absentmindedly assembles an outfit, and is just about to leave when her window slides open and Hope falls in.

It doesn't surprise her, but only because this is approximately the seventh time Hope has arrived in such a manner.

The first had consisted of Penelope almost taking her head off.

"Mikaelson, what the fuck?"

Hope bounds to her feet, dusting herself off.

"Pen! I'm here to make sure you come to my party."

"What? I told you I'd be there, why would I lie?"

"I don't know." Hope shrugs, hands on her hips as she glances around the room. "Are you ready?"

"I guess?" Penelope scoops her phone up, leans forward to grab hold of Hope's elbow, starts dragging her toward the door. "But we're not leaving through the window."

"Because Josie would get mad?"

"Because Josie would get mad."

♥

By the time Hope pulls up to her own driveway and has to park right up against a tree because the entire school is in her house, the party is already in full swing.

Penelope stares up the lawn, then turns to her best friend.

"Um, why did you leave your own party just to come pick me up?

"Because! I didn't want you to ditch." Hope places both hands on Penelope's back, starts shoving her toward the door. "Now, come on! The twins are already here."

Penelope gets propelled through the front door, doesn't have time to fully make sense of her surroundings before she hears Josie's voice yelling, "DIBS!"

Someone else, further back in the room, shouts, "WE KNOW!"

And a third person, much closer, calls, "STOP SHOWING OFF!"

Then the whole room erupts into laughter.

Startled, Penelope spins around, only to be met with her girlfriend's pretty eyes.

"What just happened?"

Josie looks both amused and delighted at the same time.

"Just making sure that everyone knows."

"Knows?"

"That you're my girl."

Penelope opens her mouth, closes it, glances down in an attempt to regain some of her cognitive functions and laughs at what she sees.

"Is that why you're wearing my jersey?" She reaches forward, tugging at the loose material. "I'm not captain anymore."

It's true. Now that they've graduated, the title belongs to someone else, though Penelope's pretty sure that Hope's never going to stop using that nickname.

Josie shrugs, smooths her hands over the shirt. "No," she says. "But you're still mine."

Penelope takes a breath, tries her best to respond but comes up empty, decides to just sway forward and envelope Josie in a hug.

"You're embarrassing me again."

Josie laughs, hugs her tighter.

"Sorry, you're just too cute."

♥

Hope's parties always get a little wild, mostly because her house is huge, and she's friends with everyone.

Tonight, the French windows that face the backyard are wide open, leading right down to the beach. There's a bonfire going, and, if Penelope squints, she can see someone tending to it.

The clink of glass catches her attention, and she turns to watch a group of people start to gather into a misshapen circle.

Josie returns then, from her mission to find Lizzie and make sure that she's not giving some poor kid hell for accidentally going into one of the areas she's designated as out of bounds.

"Hey." Penelope reaches out on instinct, smiling when Josie takes her hand. "Did you find her?"

"No, but she texted, something about Hope wanting to kick the water."

"What?"

"I don't know, I think they're on the beach."

Penelope just nods, having long since decided not to bother with trying to figure out what Hope is thinking at any given point in time.

Evidently having also decided to let it go, Josie glances into the living room, asks, "Are they playing spin the bottle?"

"Looks like it."

"Cool. Do you want to go kick the water?"

Penelope laughs, breathless in her surprise. "No, I'm good." She swings their joined hands between them. "Why? Don't feel like playing spin the bottle?"

Josie shakes her head, and Penelope can tell that she's tipsy from the way it takes longer than it should for her to refocus.

"Don't need an excuse to kiss you," she says, swaying forward to do just that. Penelope catches her, propping her back up when it seems like she's just going to keep leaning.

"I suppose that's true."

"And!" Josie cups Penelope's face in her hands. "Don't want you to kiss anybody else."

It might just be the late hour, and the foggy joy of being at a party on the first day of summer, but Penelope doesn't get as flustered as she usually does when Josie says such things.

Instead, she just smiles, loops her arms around Josie's neck, and lets the other girl steal another kiss.

♥

It's not long before Lizzie starts chasing people out, Hope following behind her with apologetic shrugs and a _'what can you do'_ expression on her face.

The house empties out soon enough, and Penelope lingers by the doorway, saying goodbye to Hope as Lizzie conducts her usual post-party inspection.

"See you tomorrow?" Hope asks, the usual sharp edges of her enthusiasm momentarily tempered by the lazy drag of the warm summer night.

Penelope nods. "I'll come by to help tidy up," she says.

Her best friend gives her a thumbs-up, then spins and ambles away, disappearing into the winding hallways of her house.

Josie chooses this moment to open her eyes. "Are we going home?" she asks, words muffled into the collar of Penelope's shirt.

She'd graduated from tipsy to sleepy around about twenty minutes ago, and is now latched around Penelope, arms circling her neck, head resting in the crook of her shoulder.

Penelope breathes out a quiet laugh. "Yes, dear. I just need your keys."

"Hm?"

Sensing that she probably isn't going to get a proper answer out of her girlfriend, Penelope starts patting at the pockets of Josie's shorts, finding her phone first, then her keys.

"Alright, babe. We have to walk to your car, do you remember where you parked it?"

Josie hums, the sound travelling along Penelope's clavicle. "Garage," she mumbles.

Right, of course. Hope would've let her park inside, away from all the, as Lizzie would call them, riff-raff.

"Come on, then." Penelope starts walking, hooking an arm around Josie's waist to support her. "You can sleep while we drive."

The streets are quiet, and they make it back to Josie's house without incident. Penelope tries her best to be quiet as they slip in through the door, not wanting to accidentally wake Caroline.

It's three in the morning, and even Josie's easy-going mother would probably have something to say about that.

Penelope sets her girlfriend up in the kitchen with a glass each of orange juice and water, turns on the stove light so that Josie doesn't kick a table leg if she tries to move around.

"I'll be right back," she whispers, dropping a kiss to the top of Josie's head before backing out of the room.

The rest of the house is dark, but Penelope knows the layout well enough that she navigates to the bathroom without any trouble.

She emerges from the shower with a towel over her head, gripping both ends with her hands. The door to Josie's bedroom hangs open, and Penelope nudges at it with her hip.

Gentle moonlight waltzes through the open window, and Penelope skirts the edges of it as she makes her way over to Josie's dresser. Her clothes are in the topmost drawer, but she opens the second one, picks out the shirt she knows is Josie's favourite, a pair of shorts that look comfortable.

"Stealing clothes?"

Penelope turns, towel still on her head, to see Josie leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, the softest of smiles playing on her face.

"Willingly given," she says, echoing her girlfriend's words from all those weeks ago.

Josie laughs, a sharp burst of joy against the muted darkness. "Thanks for taking me home," she says, shutting the door with a quiet click.

"Of course. Anytime."

Penelope drops one end of her towel, lets Josie take her hand and lead them both over to the bed.

The window is still open, and the summer breeze ebbs past, whistling through the trees.

"Hey, Pen?" Josie's voice is soft but her eyes are bright. She's lying on her side, close enough that Penelope would only have to tilt forward to kiss her. "Thank you."

Penelope closes the distance between them, changes her mind at the last second and kisses Josie's nose instead. "What for?"

Josie doesn't answer for a moment, just keeps looking at Penelope, eyes darting back and forth across her face. Eventually, she says, "You're my whole life, Pen. Please don't ever leave."

It is a strange, scary, wonderful thing, to look at someone and know that they would follow you anywhere.

To know that you would do the same for them.

"Leave?" Penelope takes Josie's hands, dusts kisses across her knuckles. "Josie, you are the centre of everything."

All roads lead to home.

"I love you."

"I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Falling So In Love With You by Rome Hero Foxes, which also works as a soundtrack.
> 
> As always, kudos/comments are greatly appreciated! 
> 
> You can talk to me on Twitter @scorpiowaltz if you so wish.


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